My First Drum
As a kid I always wanted to play the drums. When I was three years old my godmother gave me my first drum. It was a blue plastic remo drum that I love and I still have. It has white stripes that go vertically and it has two black remo pin strip drum heads. Drumheads are the surface, which you strike with a drumstick to produce a sound. The drum came with a pair of cheap plastic remo brand drumsticks. That I hardly use became if I do, I would probably break the drumsticks.
One day when I was in sixth grade I came home on my birthday, and when I opened the door I saw a medium size brown box that said pearl on the side. As I swathe box that said pearl I jus started to jump around and my mom jus said, “happy birthday.” That was the happiest day of my life. Finally, I got a real drum and real drumsticks. My brother bought me the pro-mark 2B drumsticks, which are my favorite drumsticks. When I opened the box I saw the most beautiful thing, a silver snare drum. The snare drum came with a black squared case that says, “pearl”, on both sides.
The next day like any other kid I took my drum to school so I could show it off. Man, I was the envy of every kid. No one, but no one had a drum as cool as mine. The only kid who had a decent drum was my friend, but his parents bought it at a pawnshop. I remember when he got it because I helped him clean it. The shell of the drum, which is ...
Every game needs rules in order to ensure that everyone has a fair chance at succeeding in the game. If, however, fairness to all players is not a necessity, then no rules are necessary. In “Bang the Drum Slowly,” this theme is inherent in everything from card games to life itself.
Bang The Drum Slowly was written in 1956 and is the second in a series of 4 works by Mark Harris which feature Henry Wiggen, a star left-handed pitcher for the New York Mammoths baseball team. I first read it in 1959 when I was 13 years old and I've read it again several times since.
...a life lesson. The military style of drum line is what has helped me improve in my schoolwork, my family life, and my friendships; I was trained to never give up even if success seems impossible.
Most of the instruments we play today, actually originated for the instruments played during the Middle Ages 1475. People at that time played drums for all kinds of things, like festivals, social events, and even at times of despair just to try to inspire other people. Also Hungarian drummers would hang drums on the sides of their horses and they would play them while they road. To add to that, Middle Eastern people would do the same thing but they would be riding camels. (Jason) Drumheads have been made from dried and stretched animal skin for a very long time, but after a while the way they prepared these drumheads improved and the quality of the heads increased. Some drumheads are still made from those same materials. Some time during the 1940’s Du Pont started to test a synthetic polyester film Mylar. Starting sometime in the 19th century the classification for instruments in the percussion category had evolved more quickly. During the last third of the 20th century percussion instr...
still do. I was always involved in music one way or the other, whether it was playing with my
A drum can be made of many types of wood as well as many types of animal skin, yet there is only preference because of each individual tribe or person making the drum. Drums can be made in a various array of sizes, again depending on preference. Sizes can range from small enough for an individual to large enough for twelve people. The average size is...
The following Christmas half way through my fifth grade year, I received my first string instrument. Immediately I dropped the clarinet and fell in love with that cheap, 45 dollar, first act guitar. Everywhere I went, it followed. I was 11 at the time and that 45 dollar guitar made me feel like the hotshot of the town. Music made me happy.
During my sophomore year, I decided to try out for drum major. I wanted to hear my
Of all the instruments laid out on display, only one caught my attention. I was thirteen at the time, and naturally, my eye was drawn to the shiniest of the group. I had never heard the sound of a flute before, aside from the cheap imitation of one on my family’s electronic keyboard. Nevertheless, I picked the pretty, gleaming, easy-to-carry flute on that first day of band class. Three years later, I can’t imagine playing anything else. What started off as blind luck and an attraction to shiny objects is now a part of my life. Playing an instrument is always a worthwhile investment; you develop a skill that many people only wish they had, you have opportunities to meet other musicians, and you may even get to travel in a band setting. But in order to reap the benefits, you first have to learn how to play.
The story behind the guitar is the most bizarre story on its own. I was over at my grandparents on my mom’s side of the family, when my grandma told me to stay in the living room. She walked away, and when she came back she was holding a guitar case that looked really beat up. I didn’t know where it came from, and then she told me that someone had stopped by her house asking if I was her grandchild. Confused, yet not afraid, she said yes. The man then handed her the guitar and told her that it used to be Scott’s, also known as my dad’s. In complete shock on how this came to be, she didn’t question it because she felt that God took the situation in his own plans to somehow bring that guitar back to me. When my mom found out, she was very shocked and she just sat there looking at it and finally said, “Your dad used to play that guitar for me.” Even though I can’t actually play guitar, I sometimes take it out of the case and mess with the strings and listen to the sounds it makes, amazed that I’m recreating the sounds that he used to make on that very
Despite what many may think, percussion is well known across hundreds of nations all over the world. Percussion has been around for centuries, and it has a very important meaning in the lives of many. It would be safe to assume that Percussion will be around for a long time as well, and play an important part in the lives of many people. Most people see drums as a cool thing to do, others see them as a bunch of irritating noise makers; but do they know the history behind them? So what is percussion? Percussion is a musical instrument played by striking with the hand, a handheld, or a pedal-operated stick or beater (Hudson). There are different groups of percussion instruments, and as time went by, they have immensely evolved from where they started (Zed). So what is percussion, where did it start, and what is it used for?
Many other drummers have made a huge impression on the world of drumming. Such examples are Gene Krupa (1909-1973) who is credited with encouraging a drum company to develop tom-toms with tuneable top and bottom heads (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gene_Krupa, Accessed 09-04-2013). Another such example is Buddy Rich (1917-1987) who was billed as "the world's greatest drummer” and was known for his virtuoso technique, power, groove, and speed. Yanow, Scott. "Buddy Rich” (2007).
came up with an object that we both remember cleary. It was my very first
Without warning, the lights went dark. This was the moment I had been waiting for. My adrenaline went through the roof. The time had finally come that I would get to see and hear my first live concert.
The first major piece is the snare drum. The snare drum is used to accent the main beat in a rhythm. The second major component of the drum kit is the bass drum. The bass drum creates the low "thud" sound that an individual hears in the music. It is typically used to keep the tempo (the speed of the song) steady and consistent. The third and fourth pieces are the hi-hat and the ride cymbals. These cymbals are used to accent every and any beat within a rhythm. Finally, the fourth, fifth, and sixth important components of the drum kit are the toms. The toms are used to add flare and taste to music. Basically, the toms are put to use for something that sounds different. These small breaks within a rhythm are called fills (Strong 12-13). The modern drum kit is set up based entirely upon the percussionists personal preference. For example, many drummers will play with two toms, and many drummers will play with thirty-two toms. Usually, the personal preference will be judged upon how the drummer plays music and the style of music that he or she plays. Since the discovery of drums in 6000 BC, drums and percussion have drastically evolved in their construction and in their